It wasn't meant to be a flight tracker at first
From a discarded module of a homemade gaming console, a small device has emerged that lets anyone hold the living sky in their hands. A developer known as emir173 has published an open-source ESP32-S3 flight tracker that pulls live aircraft data from a global volunteer network and renders it across two screens, navigated like a game. It is a quiet reminder that the tools of observation — once reserved for institutions — are now assembled on kitchen tables, guided by shared code and collective curiosity.
- A hobbyist flight tracker built from gaming console parts is now circulating in maker communities, pulling real aircraft positions from the sky every two minutes.
- The device compresses what once required specialized equipment into a handheld form anyone with basic soldering skills can replicate from a GitHub guide.
- Its dual-screen layout and joystick controls blur the line between aviation instrument and handheld game, lowering the psychological as well as technical barrier to entry.
- The project lands amid a wave of similar DIY aviation builds — ceiling displays, desktop trackers — signaling a broader democratization of airspace awareness.
What began as a side module for a homemade gaming console has quietly become something more: a working, handheld flight tracker that anyone can build. Developer emir173 shared the project on the ESP32 subreddit, demonstrating a device that pulls live aircraft data from the OpenSky Network and spreads it across two screens — a TFT display and an OLED — with joystick and button controls that feel immediately familiar to anyone who has held a game controller.
At the heart of the build is an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, a versatile chip common in everything from smart home devices to industrial sensors. Every two minutes, it queries the OpenSky API for fresh flight data, offering a near-real-time window into the atmosphere above. The dual screens allow a map view and detailed aircraft information to coexist, while the compact layout reflects the project's gaming console origins — intuitive, portable, and designed to be used.
Rather than leave the tracker buried inside a larger build, emir173 extracted it as a standalone application and published the full code and assembly instructions on GitHub. The OpenSky Network itself is a crowdsourced infrastructure, sustained by volunteers worldwide, so the data powering the device emerges from the same collaborative ethic that produced it.
The release fits a growing pattern. Recent weeks have seen a Raspberry Pi project turn a ceiling into a live sky display and another bring tracking to a desktop. This ESP32 tracker adds a portable, accessible option to that expanding toolkit — one that asks only for basic components, soldering confidence, and curiosity about what is moving, unseen, overhead.
What started as a side module for a homemade gaming console has become something else entirely: a working flight tracker that fits in your hands. A developer going by emir173 posted the project to the ESP32 subreddit recently, showing off a device that pulls live aircraft data from the OpenSky Network and displays it across two screens—a TFT display paired with an OLED—letting you browse the skies and drill down into individual planes with the kind of controls you'd expect from a handheld game.
The hardware is straightforward enough. At its core sits an ESP32-S3 microcontroller, the kind of chip that powers everything from smart home gadgets to industrial sensors. The device queries the OpenSky API every two minutes for fresh flight data, which means you're looking at near-real-time information about what's actually moving through the atmosphere around you. The dual-screen setup gives you room to show both a map view and detailed aircraft information simultaneously, and the joystick plus button layout makes navigation feel natural—if you've held a game controller, you already know how to use this thing.
What makes the project interesting is its origin story. emir173 originally designed this flight tracker as a single module within a larger custom handheld console project. Rather than let it sit buried in a bigger build, they extracted it as a standalone application and published the whole thing on GitHub, complete with code and assembly instructions. That gaming console heritage shows in the interface design: the controls are intuitive, the layout is compact, and the whole thing has the feel of something you'd actually want to carry around and use.
The timing fits a broader pattern. Over the past few weeks, aviation-focused DIY projects have been proliferating in maker communities. There was a Raspberry Pi setup that turned a ceiling into a real-time sky display, followed by another project that brought similar tracking capabilities to a desktop device. Now this ESP32 tracker adds another option to the menu, one that's portable and built around consumer-grade components anyone with basic soldering skills can source and assemble.
For people who care about aviation—whether they're plane spotters, engineers, or just curious about what's flying overhead—the barrier to entry has dropped significantly. You don't need expensive commercial equipment or specialized software licenses. You need an ESP32-S3, a couple of screens, some buttons, and the willingness to follow a GitHub guide. The OpenSky Network itself is a crowdsourced effort, a global network of receivers that volunteers maintain, so the data feeding these projects comes from the same collaborative spirit that built them.
The project is live and documented. Anyone interested can find the code, review the hardware requirements, and start building. It's the kind of thing that appeals to the intersection of aviation enthusiasts and electronics hobbyists—people who want to know what's happening in the sky and have the skills to build something that tells them.
Citas Notables
A near real-time, live Flight Tracker built for the ESP32-S3 that utilizes the OpenSky Network API to fetch live aircraft data and renders them on a dual-screen setup with a dual-core architecture— emir173, GitHub user and project creator
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
So this started as part of a game console project. Why extract it and release it separately?
Because it was genuinely useful on its own. Once emir173 had it working, they realized other people might want to track flights without needing the whole console. It made sense to share it.
The dual screens seem like overkill for a flight tracker. Why not just one display?
One screen would force you to choose between seeing the map or the plane details. Two screens let you see both at once, which makes the whole thing actually usable. It's a design choice that comes from the gaming console heritage—you want information accessible without menu diving.
How real-time is "near real-time" when it's polling every 120 seconds?
Two minutes is a reasonable compromise. More frequent polling would drain power faster and hit the API harder. For tracking planes, which move predictably, 120 seconds is plenty. You're not going to miss anything critical.
Is this legal? Are there restrictions on tracking aircraft data?
The OpenSky Network is public data, crowdsourced from volunteer receivers. It's the same data you'd see on any public flight tracking website. There's nothing restricted about it.
What's the actual use case? Why would someone want this instead of just checking FlightRadar24 on their phone?
Portability, customization, and the satisfaction of building it yourself. This is a device you own completely. You can modify it, improve it, understand every part of how it works. That matters to people in the maker community.